Raising Liberty
by Silver Blazen
Summary: Building a life and family is never an easy task. It takes strength and heart. These are the chronicles of Peggy and Steve have as they enter one of the toughest of all their missions:parenthood.
1. Chapter 1

**Raising Liberty**

 **All characters belong to Marvel Comics**

 **Steve and Peggy Family Collection**

{Dedicated to JuliaAurelia}

 **(1)**

* * *

The battlefield was no place for a pregnant woman, unless she was Peggy Carter. Tonight, she was locked inside the metal haul of a four engine heavy American bomber. The outside view was spectacular; her brown eyes softened against the light brush of azure that tainted against the heavy cloud cover as intense streaks of lightning illuminated the sky and flashed the window. She wasn't alone on the mission, Captain Steven Rogers was sitting across from her; adjusting his helmet as the strap fastened against the broad clench of his jaw. The roar of the turbine engines created a barrier against the firm commands of his voice, Steve leveled his stern and obscured azure eyes at her. "We're approaching the drop zone, Peg," he spoke evenly, with concern held in his firm baritone. "I want you to stay in your seat. I can handle jumping out of the plane and into enemy fire alone."

Wrapping her arms around her swollen midsection, Peggy shot him a hard glare, trying to the ease the recurring waves of nausea erupting in her churning stomach. "Captain," she returned with a bit in her rich voice. "I dismiss your orders...You are the father of my child. I will be damn if I lost you on this mission. You will listen to exactly what I tell you and follow every word, do you understand?"

"Peggy," Steve breathed out his frustration, his eyes narrowed at her stomach, protesting. "You are three months pregnant and I am your husband." He quickly stripped the leather glove off his large hand; revealing a simple wedding band that had the engraving (right partner) etched in silver. "You can't give me orders, Mrs. Rogers."

Peggy clenched her jaw, tightly noncommittally. "Bloody hell I can, Captain Rogers," she growled, her voice caught in a heavy breath, she felt the bile threatening to rise up her throat. Quickly, she encompassed a hand over her red lips, surpassing the urge to spew out the contents of her stomach. This was really overkill for the mission, but she pledged her life to the SSR and refused to remain in head office while he was out saving the world a few times over. She refused to become dominated by the harsh symptoms of morning sickness, the baby was growing securely in her womb, and Steve was being overly protective. She was stalwart, defiant and composed to fight against whatever form of pain or weakness she would experience in the next six months.

For a moment tension twisted between them, a writhing mess of unspoken emotion and doubt. Releasing a compressed sigh, Peggy reached for his gloved hand and gently clasped her fingers into interlock, assuring him not to worry, as much of trying to calm down his accelerating pulse. He looked distressed, and less confident of engaging into another battle with rouge HYDRA agents. Breathing in his masculine scent, Peggy closed her eyes, opting out her own set of fears to relish the surges of his strength pulsating against her hand. They were silent, listening to the thunder rattling against the metal walls, and embracing the heat of their bodies, she was struggling to ignore the storms of emotions whirling in her heart, the pounding throb which invaded her temples. Was she acting selfish? She wanted to feel jovial and content about having a baby with her love, not standing on the razor's edge, hoping for another war to tear them apart.

Feeling a wilt of relief, Peggy opened her eyes, and stared deeply into his blue chasms, searching for home. He was her world and life. _Her right partner._ "May I remind you, that we're in this together as husband and wife, Steve whatever dangers you will face, I'm right behind you...For better or for worse."

"I guess I can't convince staying home on this Saturday night," Steve joked, his full lips arching into a hint of a smile. "..We can go dancing in Venice?"

"Well, I'm in need of new red dress," Peggy reminded him, quirking her lips into a smirk. "I don't suppose there's a boutique down below..."

Steve pressed his lips, furrowing his slacken brow. "Well, if I happen to crash into one," he sheepishly retorted. "I'll be sure to find a dress for my best girl."

She smiled, despite the gnawing sense of pressure forming in her stomach. "Put it on Howard's tab." she ordered, flatly. "He owes me... _A lot._ "

He nodded, squeezed her hand, and then turned his head to the side hatch. "I guess it's time for me to...You know..."

"Save the world and look all glamorous while bashing a few HYDRA agents with your shield," she countered back, with his chiseled features pooling with heat, and she inwardly marveled at the flood of his enhanced strength flexing in his thick and vigorous muscles. He was truly a symbol of valor and the deepest of the four vitreous-all the measures of a good and noble spirited man. He was partner for every dance -and for every battle in their new life. "Well, it's not a life that most wives would want for their husbands, but then again, I'm not adaptable to normalcy." It was the genuine truth. Peggy was a woman who had craved for adventure since she was a little girl, after discovering that she was pregnant with Steve's child, she knew that indomitable and fiery spirit would somehow merge with her growing baby- _girl._

Steve grinned back at her. "Well it beats watching the Dogers blow another series," he said, with his most earnest voice. The shield lifted in the second a flash of lightning struck through the darken sky. He fastened it over the broad expanse of his heavy shoulders. He leveled her with a pointed look. "Doesn't it?"

Peggy felt the urge to roll at her eyes, "You're absolutely right, unless you prefer knitting a security blanket for your son or daughter while sipping Earl Gray..."

Steve stiffened his lips, he didn't respond to her sneakiness in her retort. His chiseled face grew tensed and driven as he straightened to his towering height, and leveled his clear and intense blue eyes onto her, taking a moment to capture her flawless beauty and curled pinned chocolate locks, that didn't shadow over her shining dark eyes, all the uncertainty bled away. His breath grew in a feverish pitch as he lifted her hand close to the white star of his solid chest. She didn't push back, and rested in the strong embrace of his arms, she became trapped in a sea of euphoria against the ripples of heat emitting from his muscled torso. "Tonight," he sighed, heavily, she was glaring up at him. "Peg, let's just focus on the mission and keeping you and our baby safe."

"How in the bloody hell do you expect to keep your pregnant wife safe in a rattling plane above the Atlantic waters, Steve?" she asked, leaning an inch back.

Steve winced, almost like he was surrendering to the powerful firmness held in her voice. He kept his stern resolve even as Peggy writhed uncomfortably against him. His face went lax into crestfallen semblance. "Peggy," he began in a soft and straining voice, tearing his azure eyes away from her unbreakable stare. "I know that you'll be safe. I trust the pilot with my life." He gently settled his hand on her belly, spaying his fingers over the vibrations of his baby's heart beat. The infuriated depth in her brown eyes overpowered him. He couldn't reason with her. "Besides you're too stubborn to follow my orders."

"Careful, Captain, you're breaching dangerous territory," Peggy teasingly warned in a hushed whisper, her index finger traced over the arch of his full lip. He stared down at her, his blue eyes fathomless and welled with surges of power. A smile pulled on his lips as she encircled her arms over his neck, holding him with a steady tempo of her heart. All the tangled strings of fear and uncertainty became cut into pieces and whisked away. "...just don't be late." _Never be late._

Catching Steve off guard before he walked away, Peggy tipped her chin up, inadvertently close and pulled his broad face down as their lips joined into a feverish swell of a loving kiss. She clutched his shoulders, feeling his muscular body move with equal rhythm. It was a moment of eternity-no remnants of doubt. Just contentment and trust in each other that when the mission was over, they would dance another night away.

After giving her another kiss, Steve move to the open hatch of the plane, his hands gripped the metal exterior and he gave him a reassuring smile, "I'll see you on ground level, Peggy." Within a few seconds of listening to the clashes of thunder, he vanished into the fury of the storm.

Peggy stared down at her belly, lips curving into a tentative smile. "He'll be back, my little darling," she soothed, holding that promise. "You're our mission."


	2. Chapter 2

**Raising Liberty**

 **{2}**

* * *

Intense energy streaked across the sky and pierced through the clusters of thunderheads. It was a calm breeze that caressed over her clammy skin. Being four months pregnant with a child that shared the same strength and abilities of the ultimate super-soldier was a struggle to bear for Peggy. She was carrying a baby, Steve's little legacy, inside the security of her growing womb. Sometimes, on rare occasions, she couldn't even fathom that she was married and building a life with Captain Rogers.

It was almost like being struck by lightning. A one chance in a million to grasp onto every night when she took a moment in time to stare into his steady blue eyes. Still that young blonde haired Brooklyn boy existed beneath all those vigorous muscles and hellbent dreams of carrying everyone's pain on his shoulders. He was truly a good spirited man who believed in the values of hope and truth. Peggy couldn't give him everything, just her love, support and a child. It was all she had to give and Steve asked for nothing less.

Tonight, Peggy was leaning against the guard rail of the Brooklyn Bridge, holding a document against her curled fingers. It was an answer she had been preparing for ever since that night both of them discovered she was pregnant. Clutched in her tensed hand was a pink ribbon, a small piece of truth that Howard Stark gave to her after she underwent a new form of electronic ultra-scanning that he invented that moment she had told him that Captain America was going to become a father.

Impatiently, Peggy waited for Steve to return from the SSR office. It was testament of all the four virtues. She came armed. Red velvet hugged at her curves, her chocolate locks were curled and pinned into a half-bun. Her vibrant skin held the radiant glow of her pregnancy.

Despite feeling the jovial stirrings, she felt unnatural and utterly insignificant to be so dependable on her husband's protection. Sighing out a frustrated breath, she clenched her teeth. "Get a hold of yourself, Carter," she intoned with firm protest in her heated voice. "This is your mission. You are steadfast and indomitable. No girl can hold the fire that you carry inside you..."

The fluttering of her child, seemed to give her a sense of ease. Taking another deep and cleansing breath, Peggy collected herself; quells of her pain subsided and she focused on feeling the lively movements of her growing child.

Dismissing all trepidation, she had grappled onto her burdens, even though she couldn't fathom that she was now reaching motherhood; something she had once dreaded before she moved America and now embraced as a new purpose. The realism of the dream had outweighed all the weaves of doubt. She craved to feel herself getting lost into the heat of his massive body. To enjoy their still moments and reserving all her dreams with him; no uniforms or iron pressed suits. Just the rawness of their skin, lips and hearts merging into a firm embrace of love.

* * *

 _Peggy felt cool the November breeze caress her skin. She stood on the dock, her dark eyes looking out at foggy the harbor. Flecks of moonlight became reflections in the ripples of water. She was still in her white, laced wedding dress; fully accepted and cherished by the love her wedded husband—the love of her life: Captain Steven Grant Rogers. Light melodies of the band echoed behind her, couples swayed to the gentle tempos and floated, twinkling white lights blurred in the obscurity of the encroaching nightfall. It was a celebration. A kindling memory that would never burn out in all the years to come._

 _Everyone knew they were there to share their wedding night with them; everyone except for James Barnes...Steve believed that when they shared their first kiss as husband and wife, it may have called Bucky's defiant spirit back to witness his heart soar in that moment where he felt Peggy's red lips claimed his own. Her kiss promising indefinable love, devotion and a lifelong promise of being his shield._

 _"Excuse me, Agent Carter," Peggy spun around on her spiked heels, the world titled off course as she felt his strong hand relieve her skin against the frigid air. At first she hesitated, doubt flooded in her veins, as her heart thumped with the constant ache of believing in the impossible._

 _It wasn't until Peggy listened to his soothing baritone that she allowed his voice to become her anchor of moral guidance against the storms of disbelief. She knew that Steve had carried the entire world on his shoulders, never losing his way through the clashes of fear like on that fateful day when he flew the plane over Greenland. He had permitted his courageous heart—his life—to be sacrificed to ensure freedom for the new world. Through all their struggles and battles they faced, she was his compass—the spinning arrow that pointed him in the right direction._

 _Now, in the surreal haze of accepting him further into her heart, she grasped onto her freedom and met him the second the melody had switched into slow beat, as he stepped into dim flecks of light. She marveled at the damper sight of his densely muscled body dressed in his bronze uniform with his metals of declaration. His blonde hair had fallen into its usual spiked curve as he looked at her; feet stilling and tall body grounded into a military stance._

 _Steve didn't say anything at first, casting a tender gaze over her face with treasured benevolence welled in his bright azure eyes that held a tear sheen. He was lost in her dark gaze and his willing hand reached to take hers. "Are you ready for our dance?"_

 _"Captain," Peggy smiled fondly, still holding a measure of firmness in her voice. "Haven't we already shared our dance, Steven Grant Rogers?"_

 _Steve smiled weakly, looping his arm around her waist and rotating her body to fit against him. "I'm never going to stop dancing with you, Peggy," he whispered with utter ease. His angular, chiseled face tipped and his soft lips brushed against her jaw. Heat coiled in her veins and she felt mesmerized by the depth of blue shining in his calm eyes. He focused on her, blocking out the world. His nose mashed against her cheek, as he breathed in her scent—the wavering smell of fresh roses. Tears brimmed in his eyes. He was still overwhelmed that she—Margret Peggy Carter—was his wife._

 _"You know I still can't believe that we're actually doing this, Peggy."_

 _Peggy closed her eyes, leaning into his chest. "Did you ever imagine it would happen to us?" she asked, bringing her hand to his jaw. Steve didn't respond, he swayed her away with a gentle waltz, holding her tight against him, living each moment with her. He didn't have to answer. She knew that he had been in love with her since that summer day when she was tiding up the disorder in the SSR's ranks. You know it's not going to be easy, Steve. The world is changing and there will always be another threat on the horizon." She smiled beautifully at him, tracing the arch of his full lips with a gentle caress of her thumb. "We'll face it together, my darling."_

 _He stopped, bending his fingers under her chin, tilting her head up to his lips. "The war is over, Peggy," he whispered, beaming with love. "Tonight we share our freedom as husband and wife. No battle plans until after the honeymoon, Agent Carter."_

 _She sighed, the lights twinkled in her brown eyes, and she reasoned with her husband. "All right, Captain." There was a fierce edge brimming in her voice, and her lips coaxed into a smirk. "Tonight, you're going to need your shield at hand, because I'm taking you on a dangerous mission..."_

 _A storm of desire coursed through his veins and his blue eyes became steel embers in the dim light. His hand threaded through the curls of her long hair; removing the pin as the strands of chocolate aimlessly cascaded over her shoulders. Although she tried to resist the urge to claim his lips, she for once in her life, pushed all her reservations aside, grabbed Steve's collar and crushed their mouths into a hard kiss._

 _Sealing her eyes shut, Peggy angled her head backwards so that his lips fully melded with hers. Steve's hands framed either side of her face, his finger tangled in her lose strands as he kissed her breathlessly. He never let go of her as she carnally bruised his lips with a feverish swell of devotion._

 _"Let's hear it for Captain America and Agent Carter!"_

 _Cheers echoed across the harbor, glasses clanked and friends smiled._

 _Steve pulled back in a breath, grinning at his wife. He turned around and saluted the crowd, smiling with tears in his blue eyes. His hand interlocked with Peggy's for a moment as Dum Dum Dugan, Falsworth and Gabe stood in front of barrels of whiskey chanting out old English love songs with slurring words and flushed faces. Shaking his head, Steve looked back at Peggy, her eyes glittering and filled with passionate fire. He never took his eyes off of her. "Ready to go home, Peggy?"_

 _She nodded, unable to stop smiling. Her mouth pressed tenderly against Steve's while her hand slid down to his heart. She had to make sure his heart beat was real, that he wouldn't awake up listening to the awful radio broadcast and staring out the window without his arms shielding her. His heart was strong, his lips warm and his spirit danced with hers._

 _Peggy felt whole again. She had everything. "Yes, Captain. I'm ready to go home. Now and forever with you, my brave darling."_

 _Steve dipped her down and embraced her in a deep feverish kiss, before he charged down the steps with her in his strong arms—bridal style._

* * *

"Where in the bloody hell is he?" Peggy stiffened her jaw, tearing her eyes away from the horizon. She didn't like waiting. They shared a common ground of trust—full and indomitable. Nothing ever slipped by her watchful eyes. She also knew that Steve was naive, generous and utterly blind when it came to putting all his doubts, fears and grief into the heart of woman. She never considered herself as Captain America's flame or a simple domestic housewife. She was Agent Carter—a fighter, protector and an efficient spy. She was the wife and life partner to Steven Rogers. She wasn't one to divulge into normalcy, or rather become a part of the new era of spending her days in a boxed-in apartment sized kitchen.

She was a lady of high exceptions, gumption and steadfastness. There was no other woman like her. She was rare. Nipping her crimson lips with a graze of her teeth, Peggy stared at the swollen expanse of her belly while caressing her fingers over the velvet of her dress—soothing the tightness with gentle strokes. She felt the flutters of her baby's quickening, the movement that matched the content tempo of her heart beat. "Don't worry, my little darling. Your father will be here soon enough,"

As he walked up the ramp, Steve regarded his pregnant wife with an abashed stare. He knew that he was late. "Peggy," he spoke with a breathless tone, narrowing his blue eyes at the bundle of roses clutched in his hand. "Believe me, I had no intention of being late. I was helping Jarvis with a few things at Stark's mansion." His chiseled face wore an honest semblance. He placed the roses on the railing. "Come on, Peggy, don't shut me out."

A flicker of lightning reflected in her brown eyes. It was a dangerous territory for the captain to engage. Inevitable. Peggy felt her muscles growing tense at the moment, she felt caught a whiff of his aftershave wavering off his sculpted body. Knowingly, she twisted her lips into a displeased frown. She refused to look at him. It disgusted her that he looked so perfect and strong. She knew he also carried her labors of pain.

"You better have a better reason than that if you want me to even think about turning around, Steve." Peggy warned, her voice holding a serious, dangerous intent. "May I remind you that tonight was supposed to be important...Since I received information concerning our child from Howard, unless you've bloody forgotten which I might find highly reverent." She crossed her arms over her chest, and fastened her lips into a displeased line. Steve kept his distance, settling his eyes on her belly. "This was supposed to be our night, Steve."

Steve released a heavy-strained groan of frustration, raking his hand through his drenched blonde hair. "Look, I know that you're upset and you have every right to be, Peggy." He pressed his lips into a faint grimace. He stepped closer to her and seized her arm, twisting her body into his. Her growing belly rubbed against his torso as he brushed a few loose strands off her face. Peggy looked up, staring into his sincere blue eyes. Her weakness. "I'm sorry for being late," he dipped his head and pressed a chaste kiss gently on her forehead. "...I'm here with you now, my best girl."

Peggy scoffed a little before fixing her dark eyes on the pink ribbon. A smile managed to twitch on her lips, despite her cold demeanor. "I think very soon you'll have another best girl to dance with, Captain Rogers."

"Peggy," Steve felt his heart swell in his chest; his teary blue eyes fell at the piece of silk curled in her fingers. His hand instantly encompassed over her swollen belly. A watery smile broke his stoic expression the moment he realized that inside her womb was their strong and beautiful baby girl. He forgot about everything as he crashed to his knees, pressing his face against Peggy's belly. His lips caught the vibrations of his restless daughter. He placed a tender kiss there, "We're having a little girl..." he was almost drained of breath, the tears kept on streaking down his face as he listened to both heartbeats of his wife and daughter. His family.

Peggy kneaded her fingers through his blonde locks, restraining her tears. "Howard has created a special invention that gave me a chance to see our little girl for the first time with ultrawaves," she whispered back, intertwining their hands over her belly. The world faded out and the rumbles of thunder became distant knells as he looked at her with clear and fathomless blue eyes, unable to contain a giddy smile on his face. "She is very stubborn much like her father, but she also has his strong heart. That is why I'm naming her after your mother. Sarah Rose Rogers."

After shedding a few more tears of sheer happiness, Steve straightened to his full height and cupped her jaw with his hand, "I love you," he whispered breathlessly while she wiped away his tears. She brought her lips closer to his… In a single moment of feeling the heat of her mouth eclipse over his skin, everything became liquid fire in his veins as their lips merged together into slow and passionate kiss. "It's going to be fine, Peggy. We're going to do great," he murmured against her jaw, rain started to drench their bodies. They didn't care. It was relief to douse out the fire in their hearts. With a tentative embrace of his lips, he whispered softly like many times before. "She'll be our beautiful girl...Our little Sarah."

 _A/N: A huge thank you to my wonderful friend for doing all the edits, and also to JuliaAurelia for being awesome with insight._


	3. Chapter 3

**_Raising Liberty_**

 ** _{3}_**

 _Steve listened to the screeching wheels collide against the ice encased tracks of the high bridge, the train was pushing full throttle at high speed. The passing world deafened around him, blood rushed to his ears, blocking out the rattling vibrations of the train_ _as flecks of metal shavings rained against his body. He could still hear the robot's energy blast replaying in his recess of his mind, he couldn't repossess depths of focus on the_ _disastrous_ _situation; everything had dissolved into fleeting seconds._

 _In one measured heartbeat, Steve reared up onto his boots, and with hurried paces; he marched towards the edge of the damaged train car; time was accelerating in a flash, and his amplified and headstrong_ _reflexes were numbed against the crushing weight of utter desperation. It all seemed almost infinitive to push through as the haze of white that blurred his vision, gritting his teeth into a clench, Steve_ _summoned all stows of determined effort and held out his hand to reach for Bucky._

 _"Buck," a desperate command tore from his chilled lips as he regained balance and climbed tensely over the edge; vigorously sliding through contortions of smoldering metal and detached hinges that scraped deep into his shoulders; tearing into the blue patting of his_ carbon polymer _spangled uniform._

 _"Hang on, I'm almost there," Steve uttered with an urgent pitch; his knotting stomach roiled with unease. Braving himself, his watering eyes glanced down at his friend dangling into the mouth of the snowy abyss, Bucky was gazing up at him, with terror welled into his teary grayish blue eyes, his wind bitten face paled and left hand marred with gashes of trickling blood. He was losing his firm grip, his fingers slipping off the chrome rail. There wasn't enough time..._

 _As tightness would crease to abate in his dense chest, Steve stole a faint glimpse of the feverish pain in Bucky's dimming gaze. He was panicking inside, trying to compose his weight to remain firm and balanced as he neared the edge of the rattling car. With his heart hammering thunderously, Steve never tore his eyes away from Bucky's terrified face."No...Keep lookin' at me, Buck," he yelled with a firm intent, wavering assurance._

 _Bucky nodded wordlessly, as he managed to lift his right arm to reach for Steve's gloved hand._

 _The steadfast captain refused to redirect his glistening blue eyes away, even though slashes of coldness swept against his tensed jaw, knifing into his tensed skin. He drew out a rasp of fervent breath; forcing his voice to hold back in his desperate attempt of rescue his injured friend._

 _Intense tendrils of pain flooded through his veins, searing deep into bone. His vision was dimming and his heart thudded as a reminder that this could be his last attempt to reach for Bucky's bloodied hand, it was a vital testament of sustained endurance. He could do it, just one more inch. "I'm not gonna let you fall. Now grab for my hand, pal..."_

 _"No... Steve," Bucky urged out a breathless warning, his quivering lips sealed tight as tears streaked over his face. The rail was bending against his dead weight, it would only hold up for a few more seconds._

 _Fixing his blurring eyes up at Steve, his failing hand let go of the rail as he strained to reach higher for Steve's hand, so close that he felt the pulses of his friend's strength... So close that he wanted to feel that brotherly warmth radiating through him again, but it was absent to the numbness circulating in his bones. In those devastating moments of staring into a opened void, the hinges broke apart and one second later Bucky dropped like a bullet into the endless white; his raw and fading screams became echoes through the dissonance of the winter tempest._

 _"Bucky!" Steve cried in a_ _stertorous_ _voice, and he felt a knife of icy dread, as it punctured deep into chest and gut out his heart, as it ceased to beat in that heart wrenching ordeal he watched his best friend become a painful memory._

 _He couldn't breathe, his body hunched against the steel wall, and his tears blotted out everything; his head sank into the cradle of his trembling arms and he struggled to release a whimpering sob, evidence of his utmost failure. He parted his numbed lips, mustering a despairing pitch of his voice through a sting of tears. He swiped his hand over his drenched blond tresses and braved himself to cast a dismal glance at the frozen river below. He sniffled, holding that reluctant stare of solemn blue at the ice chasms; knowing that Bucky Barnes would now rest for in there_ — _forever._ _"I'm -I'm so sorry, Buck..."_

* * *

 _Bucky._

The name of his best friend haunted through the recesses of Steve's mind, his heart pounded against the merciless assault of the vivid testifying memories of his guilt. He could see all those torturous moments bleeding away, Bucky descending into the white; each one smothered against his soul, raveling deep as acceptance of failure left unhinged pulses of consuming rage that made him fall off balance.

Though he was thousand miles away from the Western Front, he felt the dark presence of war forcing him to unleash every pint of his rage; his taped and balled fits pummeled harsh and impacting against the solid punching bag, dangling from a secured chain before him. Gulps of hot breath scraped through his lungs as he rammed everything hard into the fraying surface of the bag; striking fierce and violent punches as heavy amounts of sand begun to pour out from the slits and piled at his feet. Doused with sickening sweat, Steve delivered a bone-breaking punch into the obstructive sack, making it twirling into fast rotating spins and the chain loosen into the awake of his deafening release of a roar filled with bottled aggression.

 _...You're not alone in this fight, pal..._

"I should've tried harder..." He gritted his teeth, seething out fumes of aggression with each audible smack of his tight fist, as he aimed high and struck the bag, almost breaking it off the hinges. His knuckles were bruised and the course of gauging pain that seemed relentless to control. He felt the reeling sense of desperation stirring within him; he couldn't find the means to escape the crushing weight of grief that held his heart into vise. He couldn't find the measure of unyielding strength to carry out another mission with Howling Commando's, not when he was inexplicably trapped into a quiet surrender to the tantalizing ache that drove into his heart. The memories ate through him like a infectious plague; feeding off his pain as he tried to fight back, using his faith as his anchor to harbor back discipline against the unfurl grayness of regret.

 _It was a realm of endless white. Deaden and cold to trudge forward. Soulless husks of defeated men laid over remnants of shell castings and shards of branches. Lifeless. Their bodies frozen lain against the harsh gales clashing against them. Red smeared the purity of snow, as their eyes were opened with paleness coloring the brightness of their youth. It was aftermath of battle; the mark of HYDRA seeped into the earth as blood drained from bullet holes underneath their uniforms._

 _Cast adrift through the squalls of the harsh snowfall, protected by a canopy of trees, Bucky lay on his back, motionless. His eyelids were closed, and his navy blue winter coat tattered, damp and fraying. Steve paced in heavy strides and collapsed to the ground, his knees absorbed the vibrations of shock and the manifesting terror struck him down at alarming rate. He was unraveling, his heart ceased to beat as he gained the courage to stare down at his best friend clinging into a strand of life..._ _.He was soon to become part of the list of causalities...A memory._

 _"Bucky," he gasped, his strained voice urging for a response. He was trying to chain link back hope, but the sight of blood leaking from severed muscles of the other man's left shoulder, only corroded it. He didn't want to lament, or plead as he stole a passive glance over the remnants of carnage, and the abject of utter horror that still existed in the reflective gloss of the soldiers_ _frozen eyes._

 _Sweat dripped over his brow, and Steve couldn't breathe. He felt the mounting weight of_ _dread hammering against his heart. He was trembling helplessly. Never once did he narrow his teary eyes back at the smears blood. His failing resolve grew invested on Bucky's stiffened body; his hands fumbled over the buttons of blue jacket, trying to undo them in the wake of desperation._

 _"Buck," he spoke with faltering shivery whisper, gripping the coat's sleeve and praying that his friend would come back around. He didn't want to feel the detachment, to allow grief to control him. Despite all reserves of his defiance, Steve couldn't resist holding his tears back, as his eyes stared at ice crawling over Bucky's lips as he rendered himself abdomen from strength._ _"Please talk to me," he hitched out a urgent breath. "I can't lose you, Buck!"_

 _Nothing._

 _Steve was only greeted by the muffled sounds of airy snow falling over him. Bowing his head down in utmost siege of defeat, Steve lost all clarity of his vision as tears blurred the world, sobs ripped from his throat as he submitted to pain. Suddenly, Bucky's eyes flew open, owl eyed and frantic, his body reared_ _upright with heavy, choking gulps of air. He slurred a little, sounding incoherent as breath chanted out of him. With a desperate grip he seized_ _arm as the captain recoiled in bewilderment._

 _"No," Bucky gurgled, and pitched out a few mumbles. He could barely voice out the words, his heavy jaw clenched and lips trembled as he looked at Steve with his haunting blue eyes, and emitted out strangled rasps. Blood dripped out of his mouth, running down his neck as he attempted to lift his marred left hand to grasp Steve's shoulder. "Winter is coming...Save me...Hold our promise...Hold onto me...Keep me from fallin' into the ice." His twitching body angled back, he barely displayed pain, and Steve gently resettled his limp weight to the ground. His eyes fluttered shut as he drifted into endless slumber._

 _Steve placed his gloved hand on Bucky's sallow cheek; holding it there as if he'd want to remain frozen at his friend's side. His fingers became painted with blood, as vivid red star formed on Bucky's sleeve. "Bucky, stay with me..." He watched snow collect over Bucky's messy brown hair, and he wrenched his eyes away from the impassive sight of his friend's face and roved a look back at the heaps of the lost soldiers becoming_ _inevitability buried in the snow_ — _sons of winter. "Don't give up the fight...I'm followin' you until the end of the line. You hear me!"_

Faint trickles of blood was leaking over his secured fingers, and feverish beads sweat dotted his brow as ruffled tresses of blond was rakish over his aching temples, hooding the flares of intensity rippling in his blue eyes. He maintained a composed boxing stance, his firm muscles hardened under his drenched white shirt which stuck to the expanse of his heaving torso, and he felt the cooling assuage of wintry air caressing over the flush of tinge of his glazed skin.

"Fight it, soldier," he seethed out a ragged, heavy pants, while tasting liquid salt clotting up his raw throat. It was becoming a testament of his resilience, to push through his limits and outweigh the coldness inside that he fought endlessly. He had a chance to truly embrace the new resurgence hope with Peggy, but the shadows of his past forced him to maintain distance from the woman he loved. It was an infectious error of the wounded heart. A toiling sickness that overtook his body and possessed him become frozen to dare another step towards a dream awaited for him at home.

* * *

 _Peggy was close against him, barely a breadth away to claim the fullness of his alluring, set lips. Still, there was exhibited hesitance; in all the aspects of their connection that was defining moment to share they had waited to become released. On the wooden floor was a plate with the last remnants of their coconut sprinkled chocolate wedding cake was placed over a thick blanket underneath their bodies… In a ruffled heap under the chair rested his bronze service uniform and her white pointed shoes were tucked underneath._

 _During the transcendence of blissful happiness, Steve was staring at her fever bright azure eyes watching her smile as her ardent dark eyes caught reflections of dying embers of fire and ash smeared over her alabaster skin. Steve rested on his side, his large hand cupped under his broaden jaw as he took in the enthralling sight of his beautiful wife_ — _his best girl_ — _glowing radiantly against the dimming firelight._

 _Her slightly exposed body silently beckoned from him to close the distance, as he drawn to lean forward and caressed her face with gracing touch of his rough fingers as his hand overshadowed across her skin. He was going to kiss her_ — _there was no doubt that._

 _She didn't seize control for dominance; his hands encompassed her face, steadying her close to him. There were so many requests thudding against her desiring heart, which left her reeling with desire. She couldn't fight the urge, not when she felt the wet heat of his lips trail reverently over the curve of her jaw; it was tentative pulse ripping through them as the world faded into heated glow of sheer contentment. Breath coiled over her skin, the effect was dangerous as she stared into his fathomless azure eyes, realizing that the dream was real._

 _"Peggy," he ghosted out a shaky whisper, holding her opened, expectant gaze. "Are you sure that you're ready for this...I can wait-I don't want to force anythin' -If you're not ready-"_

 _"At ease, Captain," Peggy dismissed listening to hitches of his breath; she tenderly resting her hand with gentle ease over his jagged cheek; her chocolate eyes deeply searched through the depth of his. "I've been ready for this equal moment of our dance for a long time, there needs to be no haste...It's just you and me sharing a dance together as two right partners should, my darling..."_

 _Steve could barely muster up a voice at that, a gulp of air narrowed in his throat. His roving eyes shone with meek timidness, stark azure irises ablaze into gaze of wonderment and equal adoration. He stammered at a boyish pace, trying to find his measure of confidence as his heart thundered wildly in his chest. Everything felt intoxicating. "So-so you're ready to start dancin' with me?" he asked, in a low hitch._

 _She didn't answer him at that moment, the stillness of her unguarded stare was embolden by a cast of encroaching shadow; unruly dark ringlets fell gracefully over her pale face and she delved inside his intense gaze. Mere seconds of tangible discontent passed as growing throes of indefinable passion were kindling with amplified surges of fierce, relentless heat._

 _Ignoring all reasons of her doubts, Peggy set her intent resolve on the thinned arch of his upper lip, and the light freckles on his jaw and neck. It was enthralling at the very least, she felt gravity pulling her closer to him as the flickering embers outlined his chiseled jawline and he gravitated forward, as the world dimmed into flecks of silky light around them. She smiled beautifully, and her heart swelled as a contented sigh escaped from her. "I thought you'd never ask, Captain."_

 _"Oh boy," Steve breathed out unabashedly with a throaty gasp, he tilted his head closer, adjoining with her face. He could feel his heart fighting rapid successions of thunderous beats. His urging lips were a fraction away to taste her ivory skin. His stare deepened when their steeped eyes danced against the firelight._

 _Waves of stillness overtook him as he relished this intimate moment, he could hardly dare to purge all reservations against a silent debate inside. His mouth slowly eclipsed her lips with a gentle caress of wet heat. Something unnatural gripped him as the sudden need to embrace her lips became an unquenchable thirst. Air reminded stuck in his throat, his sky blue eyes darkened in the moment he delivered sensual heat as his nose buried into her soft cheek as he sampled her lips with a chase kiss, light-cushioned pressure with shaky breaths emitting from his heaving chest._

 _His blood rippled with cool rushes of relief, fleeting through him when her hand splayed over his flushed cheek, her lithe fingers slipped through his messy tresses of blond, and he felt the alloy wedding band tracing against his temple as their noses nuzzled during the heated out pouring of their emotions._

 _"Peggy," he panted out her name in heavy pitches of feverish reverence, his draining breaths ghosted over her smiling lips as he angled his head tentatively and caught her speeding pulse. Every vibration outmatched the gentle compression of his lips against the hollow curve of her graceful neck. And he was suddenly infused with rapid torrents of vigorous and apexes of desire; his bones would melt each time their mouths collided into a ravenous, possessive interlock._

 _It was beginning of something deemed to become wonderful. Peggy encompassed her hands over his neck, her fingers caressed tentatively as she aligned her body against him, lowering him to the floor, as colors of the fire danced over his slacken features. He looked dazed, his dilated eyes searching and wet lips unsealed as to reveal a glimpse of teeth as breath drew up heavy. She knew it was his first time to share himself fully; his virginity was pure for her to embrace. It was his wedding gift to her, a connective and trusting promise that had lain deep inside him until he finally danced with the right partner._

 _"Steve, my darling," Peggy murmured in a tender rasp, almost voiceless, her hand trailed over the sculpted definition of his chest, instinctively sliding against ridges of hard muscle that carved into his youthful skin. She regarded him back with an understanding stare, knowing that he nervous to fully accept her body. It took a little processing to assure his avid hesitance that she wouldn't value him no different as he was in this silent moment of decision. "Do not be afraid to share want you hold back with me. This is our dance to enjoy, Captain. We can take each lead slow."_

 _He looked at her, blue eyes heavy lidded with welling tears. "Peggy," he swallowed, trying to gear up reserves of his courage to take her fully, without omission or disbelief within himself. Knots in his stomach roiled as sweat glazed over his brow, giving him a rakish bang, his lips flattened into quivery smile against the soft waver of rose. He gently eased her hand to his timid lips, rolling exquisite warmth over her knuckles as reverent, shaky kiss resumed there. "I want to give you all I have, but I'm not really good at dancin'."_

 _"We have a lifetime to dance, Steve," she grinned, lowering her herself down as she felt every ripple of the serum flooding in his veins, the radiating heat wavering off his slacken muscles as her long brown strands traced over his jaw, and she was lost in a moment with him, giving him a chance to build his confidence from the devoid of uncertain. When the Brooklyn soldier felt his abdomen clench with runnels of excitement and the utmost of adoration for his wife, he allowed the force of gravity pulling him downward, Steve flatten his back on the floor; opening his strong arms, preparing to cradle her solid and lithe body against the planes of his sinewy muscles._

 _"I'm ready to start dancin', Agent Carter," he formed his lips into tender smile, beholding his beautiful wife as her_ ethereal and angelic face hovered close. _His stormy azure eyes went alight with flares of intensity as he exchanged a stare into the deepest and alluring hues of chocolate, he didn't recoil back. His focus saddled at the lush of her red lips, barely inches from his own._

 _Despite the fleeting senses to disengage, it seemed utterly inescapable. His teary eyes never left hers as he became locked within a blissful state of desire. In those moments, the world fell away_ — _he was far reaching for a dream._

 _Following the same approach of warranted desire, Peggy tipped her head and effortless with grace to her heart's content, adjoined her body against his as she fell captive to the fierce glides of his crushing lips, he recaptured her soft mouth with deep, bruising kisses. Protests of her breath fueled a second dose of adrenaline, which scraped her raw as she offered him everything that she valued._

 _"Captain," she whispered, feeling his biceps tense as his arms enclosed around her-securing her tightly against him. She was overtaken by ripples of warmth caressing her bare skin as his full, enriched lips merged another passionate driven kiss, as she whispered out a simple command._ _"Take the lead."_

* * *

Steve had to face the gut wrenching truth, Bucky wasn't coming back, his best friend was just another victim of war and his name would be engraved on a monument with so many other good and brave men who had sacrificed their lives to preserve freedom and peace for new generations.

At the turning point of the despairing moment; Steve wasn't unable to process his barrage of distorted emotions against phantom memories, or to fight against the unabated levels of crippling guilt that inwardly seared through him deep. Hot tears collected in his eyes and dripped over his tightened jaw. And he desperately wanted to believe that Bucky was still alive somewhere, but it was a fool's dream to harbor that close to the chest ...Just an illustrious hope that kept him standing on solid ground.

Rasps of breath funneled harder in his lungs, he effortlessly swiped the remnants of sweat off his creased brow, his sculpted chest heaved defensively with heavier intakes of fuming air; and tensing muscles rebelled as rushes of blood pumped faster in his veins. His whole body was heating up with anger and distress.

Attempting to deliver another enraged punch, Steve involuntarily receded a faltering step back, catching the aglow of dimming light as it tarnished over his youthful skin. He felt unbalanced; his bruised knuckles pulsed as heavy torrents of the serum flooded through his overheated body.

Each throb that jabbed at his heart, made him feel delirious and downright feverish to the onslaught of unavailing pain, his steps dragged with sluggish motion as his tolerance against unrelenting ache and invasive lucidity seemed to lessen. He couldn't simply wash down his sorrows away, he tried it before with a bottle of German whiskey, but it was just a tasteless absorbent to swallow.

Vexed and exhausted, Steve pressed his forehead against the sack, and allowed the devoid in his chest to exceed in growth. "I tried Buck," he confessed to presence of memory, his cut out rough and labored. "I wish I could go back and reach for you...I wish that a whole lot. You saved me so many times...» He pulled away and thumped his palm hard, making sprinkles of sand land in his messy hair. He was utterly frustrated, and disturbed by constant throbs of guilt. He wanted to release everything. "...and my damned self couldn't even stop you from falling off that-"

"Captain, is everything alright?"

Recognizing the measured volumes of concern laced in that familiar rich English voice, Steve turned around quickly, his head jolted up abruptly to search for the source of direction. Regardless, Steve felt distress wilting into shreds as her soft beckoning echoes lulled him back to reality; there he found her, Peggy standing firmly grounded near the boxing ring.

Her brown eyes brightened with confidence and strength, as she detested weakness and prove to other women that value could become worth more than diamond rings and imported scarlet dresses. She believed in him, and stood at his side through the trial of burdens he endured against the evolution of freedom. When he didn't advance to close to her, Peggy brazenly clicked her heels to him, her blood red lips parted to release a simple brush of truth to end the constraints of his torment. "You think that you can easily shove all that anger away, but I've known for long time that the grief you kept locked in is steering you away from the home we created as partners, Steve."

"I didn't mean to you involved with this, Peg," Steve returned evenly in a short breath, lowering his stare at the clumps of sand and tattered leather scattered on the floor- evidence of his constant hurt. He didn't want Peggy to see him so broken and disheveled; he always wanted to wear the illusion of resilience for her -like he could easily carry on with every mission admirably without a glint of failure in his eye.

Sighing and deeply embedded to souring disbelief residing in him, he warily glanced at his clothing piles on a bench, and the sketch book that he carried with him on every venture throughout the city, lately; he was too much invested in obstructions of the past than his future. "I'm just going' through something that I can't shake off yet."

Peggy reached for his hand effortlessly, anchoring him close to her. She had to keep him steady on his feet. Her dark eyes narrowed a glance at his blemished, raw skinned knuckles. Each bruise was painful evidence of his convicting frustrations. "You're stronger than this, Captain."

"No, I'm not, Peg. I oughta be but I'm not. I miss the old days. If I just moved another inch I would've had a chance to stop Buck from goin' down, but that's not what happened…I failed to save my best friend..." He sniffled crestfallen, as his eyes rimmed with red at the release of anguished tears. "I wasn't brave enough to catch him and I guess my price for that failure is keep on knowin' that I allowed him to fall...It's my fault that he's not here...I hold that more than anything else."

"Steve, none of it was your fault," Peggy whispered, the gravity of her words held a soothing declaration to drive a spear of fire through the vise of his pain. Peggy clung onto him tight, holding him close and he buried a heavy sob into her long dark hair as she kneaded her fingers through his tousled, rough strands of blond. She protected him and their baby as he caressed her neck with cushioned pressure of his full lips, kissing her with tenderness and grace. "You did everything in your power to save him. James Barnes made a choice, much like you did when you steered Schmidt's plane into the ice. Quit blaming yourself, and carry on the fight as your friend would have wanted, my darling."

The pain he harbored seemed relentless, everything he lost had fallen into a void, all the pain he endured and watching his best friend fall...He couldn't escape that nightmare. Even though his sorrow was hindered, he felt within himself. He was a soldier to the core, a man of hell-bent command and defiance and pure heart, the shadows of war recalled him back to never ending mission.

Steve accepted his purpose and carried everything on his shoulders, but now all his pain was dissolving out of him, a silent release of the grief and despair he concealed. The warmth of his wet lips never left her neck as he sobbed, wavering and heaving breaths ghosted over her skin, as she breathed an equal pace with him. Standing with him, gave her a sense of peace as her fingers twirled gently in his hair and around his thick neck. There was no need for confessions. There was nothing she could give back to him, as they stood in middle of the storm, connected with three heartbeats. Peggy knew that he needed her as his guiding light.

When the fluttering of his daughter slowed and his breath ghosted evenly against her neck, she pulled an inch away, looking into his watery blue eyes. Peggy found a promise welled in his soulful gaze, unbreakable and endearing; his lips glistened with a coating of tears. She cupped his jaw, her fingers poised over sleek edge of muscle and she held his deepened stare. She never cast a glance away. She embraced him. "We have big mission ahead of us, our baby girl will need you to be more than a shield. She will need you as her defense and strength," she coaxed. Her gloved thumb traced over the arch of his lip, slowly with tenderness. "The war is over, embrace your home, Captain."

Steve exhaled, breathless and timid to give her a response. Weight pressed against his heart, knowing what she would have to sacrifice to endure this new life with him and their child.

The heated grace of her touch granted him relief, he relished that feeling, but he couldn't break free from the strongholds of grief. He mirrored her stare, calm and searching for another way to convince her that he was strong enough to carry on the recon missions without her in the next few months. He had remained grounded with discipline and fight onward with his indestructible shield.

"You fought for our freedom long before I did, Peg, you wore a uniform and carried on your own missions when big jerks turned the other way...I know you're ready for this new adventure with me, but I don't expect you to benched yourself longer than you have too, Agent Carter will always be needed." He splayed his hand soothingly over her swollen waist; he left a trail of heat as his shaking fingers moved with evened caresses, easing the restless movements of their unborn daughter. "Captain America can't find direction without her."

"If you think I'm going to watch you into battle carrying this pain, Steve, you are sorely mistaken." Peggy pinned those harsh words against him, glancing down at her growing belly. "You have been keeping distance for too long, allowing things of the past to control your life, when did stubborn boy from Brooklyn submit to defeat...What do you hope to gain from this...You know the value of your strength, so prove it, Captain America."

Steve turned his head away, and stared passively at the shield prompt against bench, the white star gleaming against the dim light. "I wanna keep fightin' for the right reasons of value...but things are changing, good men that survived the war; they're rebuilding a world from their own mistakes. It's not about protecting lives anymore, just missions that secure things of HYDRA's interest."

He eased his right hand on her tensed shoulder; preventing her from shifting back. "We gotta find a reason to carry fight, the past remains where we left it..." He whispered out with a shaky breath. Remnants of sweat in his messy blond tresses glistened into tiny droplets; rolling down the serrated edges of his boyish face. "I've made a pledge to SSR, not what I wanted, but I've got a family to protect."

Peggy gave him a muted cool nod. She understood the gravity of his sacrifice. The measure of truth and disbelief was evident in his voice and he gazed back at her with equal intensity; trying to evade the real pain lancing through his heart.

Being well discerning with her husband's concealing torturous haunting of Bucky's tragic death, Peggy wouldn't allow him to engage another battle without a surge of hope. Her lips pursed into a confident smile. "If you need me to guide you through the storms for you, I will be sitting at the radio..."She paused to take in the empowering moment of her heart's submission and tentatively brushed her gloved fingers over the rigid clench of his square jaw.

She smiled, holding her new weight strong and poised underneath her overcoat, seizing dominance of her choice, that wouldn't be regrettable. Heat pulsed through her veins, spreading in her chest as desire retook possession of her mind. It would be her gain to douse the pain he stowed, but she had to know the true reasons of his hesitance. "You're not alone in this, Steve."

"Peg," he uttered with wavering pitch. His azure eyes shone with genuine acceptance and love as his lips grew into a full smile, stretching high to his cheeks; and he stared at her, taking in all her divine and fiery beauty. He couldn't image her being devolved into full time housewife raising their daughter; Peggy deserved to reaffirm her superiority, to enter the bull pen of the SSR and to take charge as the commander she was born to be, not some office dame tasked to retrieve lunch orders of sandwiches and cups of diner brewed coffee.

Steve knew that his iron-willed wife wouldn't relent from her choice, and if she decided fully to embrace the home daily, he would love and cherish her just as he did in this still moment.

As his silent objections were denied with a simple arch of her eyebrow, he breathed in deep, and took on adamant stance under her expectant stare. This wasn't easy for him to evoke, given the circumstances they were preparing for, she was entering her sixth month of pregnancy and the war of terror still raged on in the shadows.

The rising Soviet Nation was ominous and unpredictable threat, most of HYDRA officials had forged allegiances with new associating power and motives to strike America down, through the usage of experimental weapons that had cultivated in unknown locations and were off the SSR's radar. Things were about to escalate in the borders of the Iron Curtain as times would change -Captain America had to stand guard as a shield against the poison tipped sword that was destined to pierce all vulnerable places of American soil. He would suit up in a heartbeat, if they called him to the battlefront.

As his eyes resettled on her pending belly, he felt a twinge of happiness swell in his chest. "If you want to stay at home base, I fully accept your choice for the safely of our little girl. "He exchanged another serious look with her. "I will be with you every step of way...You're my mission...My home."

"So are we, Captain," Peggy declared with the clearest ease of words, and glanced down at her growing child secured from the world. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him into a loving embrace with the presence of assuring warmth, both of them acting as a protective shield for their baby.

Peggy tilted her head up; tears were shining in her dark eyes, as she captured his soft lips with a slow caress of wet heat, so gentle and full of trust. Steve permitted his eyes to seal into a crease , barely moving as he stroked his hand over her curves, shaping warmth against the sculpt of her lithe body. He felt renewed; the volumes of tantalizing pain decreased as halos of light shone over their connected bodies, Steve took her willing hand and lifted it to his chest, allowing her to catch his steady heartbeat.

"I want you to find closure for James Barnes...Embrace his choice of sacrifice and hold onto his memories...He will always be a part of you, my darling."

His whole body ached for release, and his eyes drifted to the delicate shade of rose that had been lightly dabbed over the lush of her waiting lips. He didn't echo back, not when Peggy lowered her face down and her nose pressed into the firm definition of his solid pectorals. She welcomed the pulses of heat radiating from his flexing muscles. With a breathless sigh, Steve rested his sharpened cheek into strands of curly her brown hair, inhaling the heady scent of strawberry—the comforting smell that eases all the stirs of sickness that still existed inside. It was then, that he realized how much he loved her. He could have explored many honest reasons to say that countless times, but he allowed his mended heart to reveal his confession.

Steve closed his eyes, shutting out the white tempest; the fading vestiges of darkness that tried condemned him to remain a captive under the shadow of HYDRA. The delicate arch of his lip curled easily over her mouth; heat solidified with breath as he felt her rosy blades part in the wake of their kiss.

Everything fell into a perfect, blissful pace, and Peggy allowed him to take the lead as tears slipped from his eyes. It became a testament of love and strength, to prove to other that their bond was unbreakable-his life-had infinitely changed forever, he was going to become a father for the first time, and he was accepting that promise of being a shield to his family greatly—Captain America would always exist in the engraved morals of liberty and freedom, but his true—pure legacy resided in his daughter.

As she felt the movement of their child, Peggy sunk into his radiating heat; her fingers splayed over his neck and threaded his blond tresses with gentle strokes; she fought against her own emotions, the reeling sense of connection became raw to abate. The feverish swell of his wet lips became ravenous and desperate as their captured lips merged into a passionate interlock; falling into deep, intense and hot kiss.

They grew breathless, sated by the impact of their love as the ablaze of fever rushed in their veins, and heady contact became outmatched and possessive. When his slipping hand unconsciously traced warmth of her swollen waist, their lips crushed fiercely.

Steve lost his balance, the kiss was consuming his body, as their equal rhythm became untamed; and he tumbled into the floor, holding her into secured cradle of his arms. They never broke part, the baby was jolting in her stomach, feeling their flushed bodies dance against the emptiness as lingering coldness of the ice was thawed by ravished passion.

In all those moments, Steve felt like his true self again, his lips roamed over her skin hotly, and his ears were deafened by the rushes of blood pumping through his wild heart.

After bruising his lips with her ravage kisses, Peggy detached from his mouth, heaving out heavy intakes of air, sweat dropped off her brow and dark strands brushed over his face as she glanced at him, looking deeply into his shining azure eyes, and found a resurgence of hope. She smiled and with a slow brush of heat and she claimed the fullness of his swollen lips with steadied kiss and listened to him whisper out one cleansing breath. "I love you, Peggy Rogers…"

Peggy smirked a little, and didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence; she took his lips with hers, adoringly. She basked in the shelter of his love, holding onto him as the glistens of light eclipsed over his skin, desperation turned into a lost thought. She felt his his muscles lessen against her body, the heaviness of guilt recede as the baby moved with their passion. They were whole again, two partners dancing with an equal rhythm of heartbeats.

When the kiss ended, Peggy found herself staring at her stalwart, handsome solider, holding her hand, as he guided her towards the shield. With that, she narrowed a teary gaze down at her protruding belly, feeling the strong pulses of their daughter's heartbeat surging against tensed muscles of her womb. "Everything has a purpose when it comes to making the right choices in order to save lives. We're fortunate enough to share a life, granted it will a hard road to take, but we won't lose our way."

Steeling himself, Steve looked back at her, tentatively. "I'm going to carry on the fight, Peggy. I'm not gonna to back down till every diseased head of HYDRA is cut off."

He settled his intent azure eyes at the shield, while resting his hand over the swollen area where his daughter was smiled, brightly holding onto that oath with much certainty, tears seeped over her lips as he enfolded them completely with a tender kiss. He breathed ready to take on the mission, light encompassed him, giving him strength to declare the exact words that pounded against his heart."That I promise to you my best girl and our little Sarah."

Peggy stared beyond the distant storms in his fierce, stern blue eyes, and found her soldier again—Captain America. "Do you want go dancing with me tonight, Captain?" the softness of her voice gently implored with genuine ease, and he watched a lavish smirk played at the corners of her lips.

He laughed heartily and enclosed his arm over her waist as his lips adjoined with hers, merging together; passionate and deep. He rocked her to a slow pace, whispering the words to her favorite song: ' _For Sentimental Reasons'_ against her lips. Peggy melted against the solid wall of his muscles, her heart just sailed away and their daughter just danced.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Raising Liberty**_

 _ **{4}**_

The Brooklyn Bridge was always a focal point leveled with the eastern horizon, and the cargo ships at the docks gave the grayness of morning life a sense of life. This was the view of a rebuilding world that Steve looked outwards to, not taking a single glide back as the gleam of light accentuate the chiseled lines of his broad jaw and brightening the pale azure of his eyes as the haze of restless sleep dissolved. His full lips were set in a taut arc as he fell back into recollection, sensing an impending storm the rise.

He wasn't on active duty; the Howling Commando's last mission outside the borders of the Iron Curtain granted him only displacement. He made rational choices on the battlefield as the elite commander; advancing behind enemy lines without a second wind of dread obstructing his hellbent will, but the trust he had with SSR was yet to become tested.

Deep in his gut, Steve knew that an awakening of HYDRA would arise, the heads of lead enforcers: Armin Zola and Baron Zemo were spawns to the true composer of unrestrained chaos and power: the Red Skull. He wasn't dead to the world, his dark presence lingered in the shadows and new threats were becoming identified.

During the last Howling Commando raid, Steve unearthed a Soviet file containing weaponized chemical enhancements a deprived version of the alpha serum. HYDRA was selecting young Russian soldiers for underground testing, all leads pointed into the direction of Siberia. Every contact Steve had met on the mission was either missing or found dead with a bullet lodged in the skull or smoldering remains of a car wreckage. The kill shots were evidence of precision and brutal calculation, never mediocre and left no trace; it almost seemed like the targets were eliminated by a ghost. Nothing felt certain enough to chase down those cold leads as he vowed to devote his time to Peggy's needs as they prepared to embrace their little Sarah into the world.

The excitement of becoming a father was mounting and yet daunting at the same time, he needed to find balance as both the soldier and a loving father, his growing family was his greatest mission. Sighing out a breath of discontent, Steve returned a hawkish glance to the cast iron pans sitting on the stove burners, he was determined to make his 'best girl' a Brooklyn style breakfast with a touch of English flare, since Peggy had been craving sugary delights that involved blueberries as of late.

Reaching for a package of flour, a boyish smirk twisted his lips, the presence of childhood memory returned to him. It lightened the weight of grief that he carried for his best friend. The clarity of that vision was still untainted as if those memories happened just moments before _… Bucky was sitting casually on a paint blotched and worn down_ stool _, peeling an apple with the sharp glide of his knife, a smug grin played on his pouty lips as he glanced over mischievously at the bowl of flour. "Y'know you haven't been outside in three days,_ I know _that stupid fever is keepin' you down, but we can still have fun…"_

 _Leaning against the cluttered table of the small kitchen, Steve wheezed out a breath, feeling his narrowed chest rattle against his loose fitting shirt, one size bigger than his torso. It felt like he swallowed nails, his throat swelled with raw and nauseous heat as he managed to draw out a guttural response. "I gotta a promise to keep, Buck, the kids at the shelter are countin' on me…I can't break it."_

 _"You're such a punk," Bucky chuckled throatily, biting into a piece of apple, and grinned_ smug _at the little guy's hollowed, and pale cheeks flushing. "I get it, you're tryin' to impress one of the fine_ dames _that work for the old_ stiff _…Not a bad plan to win a swing with an easy catch, Rogers."_

 _"Lay off it, Buck, I'm not winning any of those_ dames _' hearts, I'm just doin' what I feel is right in my gut…The kids down there, don't have much, and I can't shove that down…"_

 _Bucky bit down on his quirking lip rascality, evident to his playful semblance. "I'm just sayin'," he drawled with his suave undertone, holding Steve's unabashed stare of azure."You gotta start livin', punk, and I don't mean tryin' to prove that you can …um…be just like your Ma." A faint snort defined the gravity of his conveying words. "We all know you got the biggest and stupidest heart in Brooklyn, that's a given-"_

"Captain…"

Steve forced his thoughts away from those cherished and vivid memories; to the welcome embrace of his wife's lavish floral scent that evoked a surge of adrenaline mounting in his veins. He spun at the moment he registered her imploring tone and steered the intent depth of his azure eyes to the alluring sight of his ethereal beauty standing in the doorway, her stance unyielding as she leaned against the wooden frame, garbed in a silken cranberry-red gown that revealed the expanding shape of his unborn daughter: his little Sarah.

"Mornin', Peg," he regarded her warmly, his full lips arched into a boyish smile that seemed to sate her reserved amusement. He stood near the stove, as batter sizzled in the evaporating butter as the scent of blueberries and banana greeted her nose. His eyes alight to glimmers of sunlight against the glass panes of the kitchen's windows."I thought pancakes seemed like a good idea…"

Peggy glared him with an arching eyebrow, dismissing a soured breath. "I honestly hope you're not using Dugan's recipe, darling, remember how many of our men were left out of action?"

Steve smirked fondly at that vivid memory, trying to inject a faint chuckle."Yeah, we were lucky to have the RAF watching our backs that day," he stalled for a moment, returning back his task of preparing her a fancy breakfast. His large hand gripped the metal flipper as fluffy batter expanded into a rounded shape, blueberries were -melting as the candied scent wafted potently in the air. "I hope these flap- jacks meet to your standards, Agent Carter."

She gave him a trenchant glare, instinctively caressing the swollen expanse of her growing belly. A smile of elation traced her ruby lips, marveling the feeling of subtle movements of their baby girl. Warmth flooded through her veins for an indefinite moment, as she closed the distance when her jeweled dark eyes connected with his soulful gaze of azure. The ground felt unstable as everything blurred into a feverish and intoxicating haze.

In a fluid motion of controlled grace, Peggy glided her lithe fingers over the bulked ridges of his broad muscles; she wasn't craving pancakes."Don't you mean your daughter's standards, Captain?"

Steve felt his lips pulling into a smile, his large hand fell unsteady on the roundness of her belly, shielding the shape of their daughter. It was vigil and tangible connection; something he felt if his mother. He reserved his emotions, holding back the tears, and glanced back into Peggy's imploring dark eyes. Being a husband and an expectant father had become a challenging transition, he wasn't adorned with his star- spangled uniform, engaging a fight with HYDRA, that season had passed, and he was on the edge of rebuilding a new one with Peggy. He needed to remain at her side, be her partner through their ultimate mission.

Feeling grounded by his choice to stay at home, his lips faintly quirked into a boyish smirk, evident to the light shimmering in his azure irises. "Peggy, I've decided that I'm needed here, and my mission gotta be you and our baby girl." He declared in a tone of reverence, cool breath ghosted over her skin, as he enclosed his arm over her swollen belly; holding her and their growing daughter against him. "If I have been distant, I wanna make up for that lost time, Peg, I wanna be at your side and feel everything with you. This is our mission together, and I'm not missin' one day of it."

"Don't be over dramatic, Captain," Peggy told him soothingly, tracing her fingers over the square edge of his broad jaw. She took in the moment with him, guiding her hand to run against the shortened tresses of his flaxen- blond hair. "We both know that you'll be needed again..I'm perfectly fine with that, knowing that you're out there saving the world that our little girl will grow in…"

"You can't do this on your own, Peg," he spoke with vehemence teeming in his baritone, his glistening azure eyes narrowed over the protruding swell were their daughter was nestled, a tender smile etched over his full lips. Steve had made his decision. He wanted to remain at home base, Peggy needed her devoted husband back, not a disciplined super soldier who pledged his life and strength to his country. "What's happening in Russia, it can wait…I just want to be here for you, like any good husband should. You know that I can use a few weeks out of uniform, just tell me what you need, I will-"

"What I need is for the man that I love to stay level on his solid ground…" Peggy returned with a hushed timbre, looking deeply into his reserved blue eyes, a glint of light shining through. He clutched her into a secure embrace, desperate to become anchored away from the battle as his lips graced warmth at the corner of her mouth, urging to capture a heated kiss. Maybe they both needed to become separated from the world, reclaim a dream and allow everything from this moment endure around them.

Steve brought his large hand to her face, angling her chin upwards to meet his lips as he tentatively caught her breath with a slow and cushioning kiss, holding her steady against his muscled torso as he felt the pressure of the swelling expanse of her belly snug against him, the pulse of heat wavering from her connecting lips gave him a promising sense of assurance that he was needed at her side, as her equal partner. They union they shared fused into a feverish interlock as Peggy felt the vibrations of the daughter growing more intense. She broke away, taking a moment to compose herself as the onslaught of pain dominated through her womb. "I think your little girl wants to claim our moment as her own, Captain."

Narrowing his eyes to her swollen belly, Steve curved his lips into a beaming smile, easing his hand on her waist. "Boy, our little darlin' is sure active today, Peg," he breathed, framing the rounded shape of their child with his palms. It was a beautiful moment."I still can't believe that we're having a baby girl…I bet she's gonna look just like you, so beautiful and very headstrong…"

Peggy felt her heart soaring, tears blurred her eyes as she placed her hand gently on his chest. "I highly doubt that she will take after me Steve since I never shared my mother's refined and strict looks, most girls take after their fathers. I know without a doubt that our little Sarah will have your eyes and blond hair…" She whispered, her fingers outlining the indents of muscle with a delicate caress of her lithe fingers, and felt the cool plates of his dog tags brush over her knuckles. "I know that she will share both of our strengths and unyielding hearts, and we'll always be there to protect her."

Somewhere in those grounded words, Steve found the truest promise wavering in her breath as he felt the pulse of his growing daughter. A smile etched over his lips as he glanced down at the swell underneath her gown. "You're so beautiful," he admitted, in a slow breath, intently watching Peggy arched one brow as she recognized the sheepish hitch in his undertone. He needed to define those words. "Well, I mean that you always look beautiful..."

"Impossibly fat…" She cut him off. "It's not easy carrying your daughter, Captain. She's already showing her strength and I'm not even half way through this and yet I feel like a bloody sow…"

"Nah, you're beautiful and you're my best girl," Steve eased out a breath, brandishing his lips softly over her flushed cheek, as his free hand reached to flip the sizzling pancakes, melting blueberries were becoming potent in the air. He gingerly slid a fluffy and rounded flapjack on a plate, his strong arm braced over her curves as he guided her to the table.

A throb of desire raged through him. He displayed restraint when his fingers deftly traced over her belly and he pulled out the wooden chair for her, in a gentlemen fashion."Now are you ready for a big breakfast, Agent Carter?"

Peggy met his affable gaze, smirking teasingly as her collective dark eyes fell on a splotch of flour dusting his chin. In fluid grace, she gripped onto his arm, forcing him to crouch down as she wetted her thumb and wiped off the smudge of white, listening to his throated chuckle.

"I think you already had yours, darling." His arching lips brushed over her hand, searing and connective warmth that she wouldn't dismiss-not ever. Relishing in her dominance over him, she reached for the glass bottle of syrup and slowly poured the contents over his pancakes."Once I'm finished with this morning delight, you're taking me out dancing...No expectations, Captain Rogers."

Steve laughed deeply at his wife's command, and furrowed his eyebrows, upon feeling a little daunted by her inevitable request. Breath nearly choked out of him. "Dancing?"

She curved her lips deviously at his reluctant and boyish demeanor, patting down on his muscled thigh, conveying her wittiness. She stabbed a piece of pancake with a fork and took a super-soldier sized bite, giving him a coaxing smile. "No one said this mission would be easy, darling."

* * *

He felt no warmth greeting him in the moment a full connective assault of lips graced roughly over his soft mouth. The taste of vodka and cheap lick stick was intoxicating to swallow. It was a slow burn that he couldn't relish. The mission needed to become successful as commands glitched in his mind, twisting the urge of resistance to pull out of it. He couldn't escape the control, the swell of his arresting lips heated as breath guttered through his heaving chest.

The dormant woman ensnared into his steeled embrace was a young mother with a son, but a compromising threat who was marked to become a shadow a grave. He would become death to her. A possessive glide of cold metal traced her pulse, slow and methodical as if he practiced every motion before while his flesh fingers caressed her exposed skin of her trim stomach with delicate precision, apply enough pressure to immobilize her. Vurenabily made him hunger as the softness arch of his lips pushed hers upwards creating a wet onslaught of avid pleasure, numbing her senses until she drew up a breathless plea. Right there, in the depth of their kiss, he broke away with a tentative roll of his tongue subduing her mouth. He grasped her wrist into the clutch of his metallic hand, keeping her grounded against the wake of dread that pulsed through him.

"Ty moy," he rasped in a low octave, hot breath gusted over her flushed skin as he inhaled her scent deeply. When she closed her eyes, desiring her to deliver another kiss, a devoid of emotion reflected in his ice-cold blue irises. He lifted his hand, tangling thick raven strands as the eager moan emitting from her lips became obstructed with silence and he tilted his head, angling for distractive kiss of fluid grace, tempting her to follow the paces of his breath until the crushing intensity of his grip coiled over her thinned neck, trapping her into a feverish a choking rhythm. He committed every sense to the mission, and in those seconds of coaxing her into deepened kiss, he delivered the killing chokehold around her throat, ending her life as the warmth of his dispassioned kiss faded into an embrace of coldness.

In a slow ease to height, he allowed her lifeless body to slip off the bulked planes of his torso, and he stood up to his imposing stance and whispered in a ghostly timbre as his mechanical eyes narrowed remorselessly at her bloodless face. "Pokoysya s mirom…" In a shifting motion, he yanked his leather jacket on the closet doorknob, as dim lamplight glinted over his metal arm enough to reveal a red star before he vanished into the darkness.


End file.
